Malta Air has launched six new summer routes for 2020, with Brindisi (Italy), being a brand new destination for the airline and Trapani (Italy) being reinstated as a destination.
Routes to Nis (Serbia), Paphos (Cyprus), Santiago de Compostela (Spain), and Trieste (Italy) are all being expanded from the airline's winter schedule.
The new routes will see Malta Air's upcoming summer schedule have a total of 66 routes, with an expected 3.1 million customers being carried throughout the year - an increase of 6%.
The Brindisi route will operate twice a week, as will the route to Sicily's Trapani. The routes to Nis, in Serbia, Paphos, in Cyprus, Santiago de Compostela, in Spain, and Trieste, in Italy, were launched over this year and have been deemed successful enough to be transferred into next summer as well. Each route will operate twice a week.
Meanwhile, there will also be an increase in the frequency of flights to nine destinations including Bari, Madrid, and Marseille.
In a press conference on Friday, Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi noted that the commitment for growth on the part of the airline is very clearly there. He said that the strategy of the government remains to continue to grow the aviation sector and provide more connectivity, while also offering to attract a variety of travellers to Malta and Gozo.
Malta Air CEO Diarmuid O'Conghaile, who was appointed to the role last July, said that the airline had now moved into its offices in Mriehel and that 14 aircraft were now registered in Malta, with this number expected to rise to 17 by the end of this month. He said that by summer 2020 a total of over 50 aircraft spread across bases in France, Germany, and Italy will be registered in Malta.
"We are content that we are Malta's number one airline and it is our ambition to continue helping Ryanair Group in its goal of reaching 200 million customers by 2024", he said.
Ryanair Group had 152 million customers last year, up by 7% from the previous year, and has 86 bases across Europe while operating over 2,100 routes to 236 airports. O'Conghaille said that it is the group's aim to continue to expand to places further afield such as Ukraine, Georgia, and Lebanon, before also noting that the airline's average fares had decreased by 6% to €37 - the lowest out of any airline.
Carlo Micallef from the Malta Tourism Authority meanwhile welcomed what he describe as a vote of confidence in the fruitful cooperation between Malta and Malta Air and in Malta and Gozo itself as a destination.
He welcomed increased frequencies on routes such as Bristol and Birmingham which, he said, shows that numbers are being maintained despite Brexit looming ever closer.
To celebrate the announcement, Ryanair group has opened a sale of up to 25% off on over 100,000 seats for travel between November and March, which will run until Monday 14 October at midnight.
Photo: Alenka Falzon